Let the Word Dwell Richly

Since its publication, The Trellis and Vine—co-authored by Tony Payne and Colin Marshall—has been widely commended for its articulation of a clear ministry vision: every Christian committing themselves to the task of making and growing disciples.

However, The Trellis and Vine proposed something more than just the conventional mantra of ‘every-member ministry’. It proposed ‘every-member word ministry’.

Naturally, readers had questions.

• What’s the nature of this word ministry that all church members are expected to do? What does it actually look like?
• How does it relate to preaching? Is it doing a different thing?
• Is this just one option for growing a church? Or is it the right option? What does the Bible say?
• Even if we agree in theory, how do we make it a practical reality?

So Tony Payne set out to do more thinking and provide some answers. Nearly ten years and a PhD later, he has discovered two very surprising realities: firstly, how little theological reflection and writing there has been on this topic; yet, secondly, how extensively the Bible talks about it.

In Let the Word Dwell Richly, Tony Payne brings a new rigour and depth to the ministry mind-shift that will revolutionize the effectiveness of the ministry we pursue in our churches.

Foreword

Introduction: Pulling on a thread

Part I. What is the one-another word?

1. What kind of word?

2. Is this a thing in the New Testament?

3. Exploring the silence

4. Apprentices to Scripture

Part II. How spiritual people speak: The one-another word in 1 Corinthians

5. The gifted problem child (1:4–7)

6. Spiritual grown-ups speak spiritual wisdom (2:6–16)

7. Common prayer and prophesying (11:4–5)

8. Spiritual speech for the common good (12:1–31)

9. The supremacy of prophecy (14:1–40)

10. Summary: the one-another word in 1 Corinthians

Part III. Speaking the truth in love: The one-another word in Ephesians

11. Building the body of Christ

12. Think cosmic, speak local (4:1–16)

13. Walking and talking (4:17–6:9)

14. Summary: the one-another word in Ephesians

Part IV. A word of exhortation: The one-another word in Hebrews

15. The word of exhortation

16. A dangerous journey with friends (3:12–14)

17. The neglect of exhortation (10:24–25)

18. Summary: the one-another word in Hebrews

Part V. Three key themes

19. Drawing threads together

20. The word of God and the one-another word

21. Moral transformation and the one-another word

22. Christian community and the one-another word

Part VI. Letting the word dwell richly

23. The nature of the one-another word

24. The purposes of the one-another word

25. Reaching towards practice

26. Reverberations

Appendix: Men and women and ministry of the word

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Scripture index

Tony Payne is well known for his long ministry at Matthias Media, and his authorship of more than 30 Christian books and resources. He is currently a faculty member at Moore Theological College, lecturing in Moral Theology and Christian Thought, and directing the College’s Centre for Christian Living. With his wife Ali he is blessed with five children and ten grandchildren.

I doubt I’ll read a better book this year. Tony Payne has taken decades to study, reflect, practice and write this book. In brief, his idea is that the Bible teaches us that as surely as pastors are to exercise the public ministry of the word proclaimed, so surely is every Christian to exercise the personal one-another word ministry. What is one-another word ministry? It is Christian speaking to Christian to edify, correct, encourage and instruct. The book is full of careful reading of the Bible—giving special attention to 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Hebrews—thoughtful synthesizing of the truths it teaches, and experienced practical reflections. Let the Word Dwell Richly is a gift to pastors and churches that I pray is widely read. May the Reformational recovery of the ministry of God’s word in our lives and churches continue, and may this book be used to help it.

—Mark Dever, Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC, USA

Tony Payne tackles a topic central to the apostolic teaching of the New Testament—yet often neglected in our own churches—with biblical clarity, theological depth and practical wisdom. He offers rich and timely insights that we need to heed and take to heart.

—Lionel Windsor, New Testament Lecturer, Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It offers compelling exegesis, thoughtful theology and practical application. With incisive clarity, Tony makes a convincing—and convicting—case for the vital importance of all believers speaking God’s word to one another. As he observes, “a Christian congregation that lacks one another Word ministry is—like the Corinthian church—still waiting to grow up”. I pray the Lord will use this book to help many congregations grow to greater maturity in Christ. Our leadership team is already seeking to implement the biblical vision it casts.

—Mark Howard, Senior Pastor, West Valley Presbyterian Church (PCA), Allentown, PA, USA

This book is the fruit of long and patient attention to the word of God, shaped by years of careful thought, reflection and study within the life of the church. Tony has given us what may at first appear to be a timely reminder of the importance of “one-another” ministry, but which proves on closer reading to be something far more profound. It is a call to recover confidence in the power of God at work in our churches by multiplying and amplifying the word of God throughout the whole congregation, as every member takes up the calling to speak the truth in love to one another.

The pulpit is, of course, central to the church’s life. Yet when the public ministry of the word is received and carried into every part and aspect of the church’s shared life, something genuinely transformative takes place. Ordinary believers are drawn into the great dignity of speaking God’s own words to one another as instruments of his grace.

This is a stimulating, timely and potentially very fruitful book. It presses us to think carefully about ministry, maturity and mutual care, and to reckon afresh with the way God uses his word—spoken from one believer to another—as a living means of grace. I warmly commend it to pastors and church leaders who are seeking to cultivate a church life marked by the richness and fullness of the whole body of Christ at work.

—Andrew Heard, Senior Pastor, EV Church, Erina, NSW, Australia

The Trellis and the Vine was only the beginning. In Let the Word Dwell Richly, Tony Payne now takes us to the beating heart of biblical disciple-making.

Every year sees a huge wave of new books on preaching—and for good reason. God’s word brings life, and the pastoral ministry of the word must remain central in the church. Yet the New Testament also insists that the word must not stop at the pulpit. Pastors know the bottleneck: when everything depends on the professionals, discipleship stalls and church health suffers. But the church grows when ordinary Christians ‘speak the truth in love’ to one another—encouraging, warning, comforting, instructing and building up one another with Scripture. 

Throughout church history, God has used certain books to recover neglected dimensions of the Christian life—whether Luther on justification, Carey on missions, or Packer on knowing God. In that same spirit, Let the Word Dwell Richly calls us back to the vital yet easily forgotten power of “the one-another word”. Tony Payne carefully traces this theme through 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Hebrews. His analysis, synthesis and conclusions are exegetically rigorous, theologically rich, and profoundly practical. This is a big book with an even bigger vision: Scripture-shaped conversation is essential for discipleship, church health and perseverance in the faith.

—Champ Thornton, Author and director of children and family resources, Crossway, Wheaton, IL, USA

Let the Word Dwell Richly fills a notable gap overlooked in many Western churches: the one-another ministry of the word. Tony Payne thoroughly defines and defends this practice from the Scriptures, convincingly arguing that its neglect has adversely affected our churches. Although exegetically vigorous and thoroughly researched, the book remains engaging and practical. I found myself challenged to research the Scriptures, encouraged to examine my ministry, and convinced to mentor the church I pastor on one-another word ministry. Anyone involved in leading a ministry would benefit from this book, especially if heeding its message and incorporating its principles.

—Dave Trepanier, Senior Pastor, Gospel Life Church, Evans City, PA, USA

This is a book that unsettles—in the best possible way. It confronts comfortable assumptions and gently but firmly exposes an often-unintentional neglect of the New Testament’s “one-another” ministry of the word.

Long overdue, this work addresses a strikingly under-served area of Christian thought and practice. From the outset, Tony makes clear both the biblical importance of the subject and the paucity of material devoted to it. His contribution is therefore not only timely, but also deeply needed.

With a theology-that-leads-to-practice approach, Tony calls readers to re-evaluate the balance of their ministry. As he carefully works through 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Hebrews, I found myself confronted about my own ministry, as resistance gave way to conviction. The book demands effort—but it is the rewarding kind. Written with clarity and accessibility, it never oversimplifies. Tony is unafraid of complexity and invites his readers to grapple alongside him with the deep truths of Scripture. 

Crucially, this book restores emphasis to the vital “one-another” word without diminishing the place of preaching. Instead, it elevates the often-neglected word ministry of every Christian. Its rigorous handling of Scripture is matched by a rich engagement with the Reformers, offering particular delight in its exploration of their understanding of preaching.

Above all, this book rekindles wonder at a great God who speaks clearly, who graciously shares his word with his people, and who uses that word—democratized and dispersed—to ensure his church remains edified, engaged and growing.

—Grant Retief, Senior Minister, Christ Church Stellenbosch, South Africa

I’m delighted to enthusiastically recommend this book to you. As a pastor, I value pastoral theology, and Tony has provided a rich and deeply helpful resource that stretches my mind, warms my heart, and sharpens my pastoral focus. Preaching (one-to-many) has great value within Christ’s church, but I’ve always striven to encourage my people to recognize the value of their one-another speaking. This book has sharpened and deepened my zeal to see this vital one-another ministry flourish among my people. I need to continue working hard on preparing and delivering my Bible talks, but I also need to work hard to help my people be prepared to speak “some aspect of the word of Christ to each other, for the purposes of mutual edification and maturity in Christ”.

Tony’s exegetical study of key passages in 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Hebrews, using what he calls an “apprentice to the word” methodology, is full of rich insights. His historical study of how others have connected (or not) the preached word with the one-another word is fascinating. What should a belief in the priesthood of all believers really look like within our churches?

Tony concludes the book by offering suggestions on how our clarified framework of theological understanding can be applied to our own situations. I appreciated the non-prescriptive nature of these suggestions. Tony’s call is for each of us to consider how the “one-another word” can grow and become a normal feature of our Christian lives and churches. I’m excited to heed his encouragement.

—Paul Sheely, Pastor, Albury Presbyterian Churches, Albury, NSW, Australia

From a careful study of the New Testament, grounded in sound interpretive method, Tony argues for a commonly neglected element of Christian discipleship. The ministry of speaking the word of God to one-another should be the normal God-given experience of the Christian life and church ministry.

From his study of historical theology, Tony concludes that the 16th-century Reformation of the church by the public preaching of the gospel word did not go far enough. Luther and Calvin expounded the revolutionary biblical truth of the priesthood of all believers. But they failed to draw the implication that all believers are servants of the word, speaking God’s word to fellow-believers and to the lost. To this day, our churches suffer from this commonly neglected doctrine and practice.

The effort of equipping our members to fulfil this vision will pay huge dividends. The formal preaching of pastors will have greater impact as members help one another learn deeply. And our various ministry structures in church life will be more fruitful for maturity and mission.

Viva la Reformation!

—Colin Marshall, Author, Warriors of the Word; co-author, The Trellis and the Vine

Tony Payne has gifted the church a wonderful, if strange, resource in this book. I say strange not because of its content, but because of the need for the book in the first place. As Tony points out, the task of regular church members being apprentices of Scripture and helping others become the same has often been assumed, but not carefully argued for. This work does just that. It drives at the importance and vitality of one-another word ministry in the church.

The book is helpfully dense. Payne is unapologetically not taking short cuts, but carefully examining Scripture to prove his point. It is scholarly without being pretentious. I particularly appreciate how he goes out of his way to make his task hard on himself, raising and answering many potential objections to his thesis throughout his work. 

I must admit he’s preaching to the choir on this one. As a theological ethicist, I deeply appreciate the emphasis on formation according to Scripture for all believers for the sake of themselves and others. As one who trains preachers, I’m encouraged that there is an elevation of one-another speech without diminishing preaching. Both are vital, based on God’s word, empowered by the Spirit, but are useful for different ends (though they do overlap and serve each other). Preaching is more useful for comprehensive knowledge, and one-another word ministry is more geared towards practical immediacy. 

What we need in the church today is the proliferation of the word in a variety of ways inside the Christian community. Tony gives help on why that is the case and how such things might happen. He wisely avoids over-emphasizing how the one-another word should work itself out in any particular church because each context has its own strengths and challenges. Regardless, to live in this way makes every ‘regular’ interaction between church members potentially significant. This practice of ministering the word to one another is not just the ‘right’ thing to do, but ‘good’ for all who speak and all who listen. 

—Jeremy Meeks, Director of the Chicago Course on Preaching, The Charles Simeon Trust, Chicago, IL, USA

If early church history clarified the divinity of all three persons of the Trinity, and the Reformation clarified the priesthood of all believers, then this most recent century has finally seen serious work begin on the ministry of all believers. Or has it?

With the theological and exegetical rigour we expect from Tony Payne, this book skilfully explores the neglected topic of one-another word ministry. But be prepared: you will be forced to check your assumptions at the door and rethink certain key passages of Scripture. If you’re like me, you’ll know you’re reading a significant work when you regret that you laid eyes on it only after preaching through the relevant passages.

This book is an urgent plea to unleash God’s word from the mouths of all of God’s people and, as Tony puts it, to no longer “constrain the communication of the word of God to one context only (the church service), by one person only (the preacher), in one form of speech only (the sermon), as many churches in history have done and continue to do today”. May we heed this call, by God’s grace.

—Ray Galea, Senior Pastor, Fellowship Dubai, UAE

Tony Payne has made a significant contribution to the doctrine of the church by analyzing what the New Testament says about one-to-one ministry by all Christians. What he says, and the conclusions he draws, constitute a challenge to every Christian about our calling to ‘speak the truth in love’ to one another. His work throws light on contentious issues such as the gift of prophecy and the ministry of women. Most important, however, is the way in which we are helped to think again what church is for and the responsibilities of all who belong. I hope that his work will enrich all our churches and enable us to show forth the faith, hope and love described in 1 Corinthians 13.

—Peter F. Jensen, Former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Principal of Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia